If you grew up in the 1980s, you know Chunk.
You know the loud Hawaiian shirt. You know the legendary, belly-shaking “Truffle Shuffle.” You know the lovable, hyperactive chaos machine who stole scenes in Steven Spielberg and Richard Donner’s 1985 classic The Goonies without even trying.
But what happened after the credits rolled on the Goondocks is arguably the most surprising, triumphant Hollywood story you will ever read. It is a narrative that shifts from a heartbreaking, forced retirement to a spectacular comeback—not in front of the camera, but inside the highest-stakes boardrooms in the entertainment industry.
Secret Chickenpox and the “Survival of the Fattest”
Born Jeffrey Bertan McMahon on June 25, 1974, in Los Angeles, Cohen’s childhood was upended early on when his parents separated. Seeking a fresh start and a distinct identity for the screen, he adopted “Cohen”—his mother Elaine’s maiden name—as his professional moniker.
Long before he became a pop-culture icon, Cohen was a fixture on 1980s television, appearing on game shows like CBS’s Child’s Play and Body Language. But everything changed when he landed the role of Lawrence “Chunk” Cohen.
Filming The Goonies was a masterclass in childhood resilience. In a detail most fans missed, Cohen actually broke out with chickenpox right as production began. Terrified that the studio would replace him, the ten-year-old kept the itchy, painful rash a secret and showed up to set anyway. If you look closely at the film’s DVD commentary, sharp-eyed viewers can actually spot the chickenpox blemishes on his chest during the iconic Truffle Shuffle scene.
Director Richard Donner instantly recognized that the boy possessed a rare, unforced authenticity on screen. For Cohen, however, landing the role was simply a matter of numbers.
“There were basically about four fat kids in town, so every time there was a fat kid role you saw the same people at the audition,” Cohen later recalled. “It was survival of the fattest.”
“Acting Gave Me Up”
Following the runaway success of The Goonies, Cohen desperately wanted to keep acting. He loved the craft, the sets, and the storytelling. But he ran headfirst into a biological wall that no amount of talent could overcome: puberty.
As the childhood weight melted away, Hollywood’s casting directors stopped calling.
“When I hit puberty, it was a career-ender for me,” Cohen said, delivering a line that breaks the heart of every children’s movie fan. “I was transforming from Chunk to hunk, and I couldn’t get roles anymore. It was terrible. My first love was acting, but puberty had other ideas. It was a forced retirement. I didn’t give up acting. Acting gave me up.”
Suddenly cast out of the sandbox, Cohen had to reinvent himself. He stepped entirely away from the glitz of the industry, throwing his energy into academics, sports, and a relentless drive to find an identity that didn’t involve a Hawaiian shirt.
He never lost his self-deprecating wit, though. “I’m pretty good at exercising and watching my diet because I know I could slide back into Chunk,” he joked. “As an adult, I am very proud that I was a professional fat person. Anyone can be an amateur, but who can be a pro?”
Tough Love and a Million-Dollar Recommendation
At UC Berkeley, Cohen reinvented himself as an athlete, enduring brutal football team hazing (“I was always knocked on my a”) and eventually becoming the university’s official “mic man.” At rallies, thousands of students would chant for him to perform the Truffle Shuffle. He finally gave in and did it exactly once—sending the stadium into absolute delirium.
But the most pivotal relationship of his post-acting life remained his bond with Richard Donner. The legendary director didn’t just shepherd Cohen through his childhood stardom; he actively protected his future.
When Cohen approached Donner for a college recommendation letter, the director did something extraordinary. Moved by the young man’s financial struggles and drive, Donner quietly paid for Cohen’s entire college education.
Donner also pulled him into the studio backlots to learn the operational side of show business, delivering a heavy dose of Hollywood realism that Cohen would never forget.
“Hey kid, what do you want to do?” Donner boomed at him one afternoon.
“I want to be an actor,” Cohen replied.
“That’s stupid. You’re not going to be an actor,” Donner countered. “You’ve got to know about the business.”
It wasn’t cruelty; it was the ultimate act of mentorship. The tough love worked seamlessly. Cohen earned his business degree from Berkeley, followed it up with a law degree from UCLA, and marched right back into Hollywood through the front door.
The Ultimate Poetic Twist
Cohen didn’t just become a lawyer; he became one of the most formidable entertainment attorneys in the city.
“I still wanted to contribute to entertainment because I always loved the industry,” Cohen explained. He co-founded the elite firm Cohen & Gardner LLP, routinely landing spots on Variety’s prestigious Dealmakers List and The Hollywood Reporter’s Next Gen Executives.
Today, his law office serves as a beautiful museum of his extraordinary double life. Hanging on the walls is an E.T. poster signed by Steven Spielberg that reads: “To Jeff (Chunk) Cohen, you are my favorite Goonie,” right next to a Superman poster from Donner inscribed: “My man, with you anyone can fly.”
“My clients get a kick out of the fact their lawyer is Chunk,” Cohen laughs. “They dig it.”
The narrative came full circle in the most poetic way imaginable during the 2023 awards season. When Cohen’s childhood Goonies co-star, Ke Huy Quan, mounted his historic Hollywood comeback in Everything Everywhere All at Once, it was none other than Jeff Cohen who served as his legal counsel, aggressively negotiating the contract that eventually won Quan an Academy Award.
When Quan stood on the Oscar stage, tears streaming down his face, he looked out into the crowd and made sure to thank his attorney: “My Goonies brother for life.”
A Rare Hollywood Victory
Now 51 years old, Cohen looks nothing like the rumpled kid from Astoria. He jokes that he will never perform the Truffle Shuffle again without the benefit of “three martinis” and very strategic lighting.
In an industry littered with the tragic, broken histories of former child stars, Jeff Cohen stands out as a brilliant rarity: a kid who came out of the Hollywood meat grinder completely unscathed, turning a painful rejection into a multi-million-dollar legal empire.
“I think it’s crazy,” Cohen says, looking back on his legacy. “I dig it, and I’m very proud of ten-year-old me and that he was able to make such an impact.”
Bitter as it was to watch his first dream slip away, Cohen proved that when Hollywood closes a curtain, you can always buy the theater. By any metric of success, Chunk didn’t just survive—he won.
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